


Nothing to Lose

by Heartfiliadaydream



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Spoilers for Season 2 finale, post hawkmoth reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 09:02:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16513319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heartfiliadaydream/pseuds/Heartfiliadaydream
Summary: Based on the line Hawkmoth says to the heroes during their battle "I'll show you what a man who has nothing to lose can do!" and Adrien's reaction once he finds out Hawkmoth is his father.





	Nothing to Lose

“I’ll show you what a man who has nothing to lose can do!”

“Nothing to lose...”

_ Nothing to lose… _

 

The words echoed in Adrien’s head as he watched his father destransform on the news again and again. 

After Hawkmoth had said that, he’d spent a lot of time wondering what kind of man would have nothing to lose in his life. What had caused him to become so evil that he could become a man like that?

Apparently, the answer was a man like his father, and losing his wife would cause him to abandon everything, including his own son.

He’d known his father had been absolutely devastated by his mother’s passing and that he’d become distant after the fact. He’d known that his father always held him at arm’s reach but never knew why.

Given that Gabriel Agreste rarely let his son wander around unguarded, he figured his father at least cared enough about him and possibly even loved him enough for that. 

Had all those times post akuma that he’d come to Adrien looking worried and upset been lies? Had they been deceptions that only a truly evil person could do and make convincing?

Looking at his father now, separated by glass and only allowed to talk to him through a phone speaker, all he could think about was how he had said he had nothing to lose while fighting him and Ladybug.

“Adrien,” Gabriel said into the phone.

“Father.”

“I have to say, I’m honestly surprised you’re here.”

Adrien let out a hollow, short laugh. “You and me both. But I had to look you in the eye and ask you a question.”

“By all means, ask away,” his father said with a wave of his hand.

“During the fight with Ladybug and Chat Noir on the Eiffel Tower, you told them you had ‘nothing to lose’. Did I really mean that little to you?”

It was Gabriel’s turn to laugh. “Oh son, don’t pretend with me. I didn’t tell  _ them _ anything. I told  _ you _ and Ladybug I had nothing to lose.” Adrien gaped. “Don’t look at me like that. Of course I knew you were Chat Noir. I’ll admit, it took me longer than I would have liked to figure that out, but I did with a little help from Nathalie.”

“Did anyone you’d put in charge of me really care?”

“Gorilla did. I never held any sway over him except where you were concerned.”

Adrien’s eyes grew soft at the mention of his bodyguard. He  _ had _ always looked out for him. Looking back at his father with a more hardened stare he said, “you still haven’t answered my question.”

“I knew you were never going to help me once I figure out who you were. So while  _ Adrien _ was the only thing that mattered to me aside from getting your mother back,  _ Chat Noir _ was a nuisance that I needed to be rid of. I’d already lost you to the miraculous, so yes, I truly had nothing more to lose.”

“Good to know that me being a hero no longer makes me your son. If that’s the case, I’ll renounce you as my father any day of the week.”

“Now now Adrien, if that were true, you wouldn’t have come all the way down to see me and ask me about that now would you?”

Adrien motioned to hang up and walk out, but stopped halfway to the receiver before bringing the phone back to his ear.

“You want to know why I came down here? I wanted to see what kind of man could say something like that. Thank you for letting me know that it’s a miserable old man who can’t let go of the fact that life moves on and if we don’t move with it, we get left behind.”

With that said, he stood and left, not bothering to look back at the man who used to be his father. 


End file.
